National squash queen Nicol David at a CIMB promotional event in KL last month. - Filepic
PETALING JAYA: World No.1 Nicol David reached another milestone in her career by winning the women’s title at the Asian Individual Squash Championships for a historic ninth time.
The eight-time world champion maintained her record of not dropping a set throughout the tournament by beating Hong Kong’s Annie Au 12-10, 11-8, 11-8 in Tuesday’s final at the Sheikh Salem al Sabah International Squash Complex in Kuwait.
The 26-year-old Annie, who won the title in 2013 in Nicol’s absence, was high on confidence after stopping Malaysian No. 3 Delia Arnold 7-11, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 11-4 in the semi-finals on Monday.
Annie got off to a bright start and pushed hard before Nicol gradually settled into the game. Once Nicol got her rhythm, she started to impose herself and won a close-fought first set.
The 31-year-old Penangite was never really troubled in the next two sets as she went on to record her 19th win over Annie.
Nicol will now turn her attention to defending her title at the prestigious British Open in Hull from May 9-17. She will be gunning for her sixth title, having emerged champion in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014.
In the men’s event, world No.106 Abdullah Al Mezayen stayed on course to become the first Kuwaiti to win the title after charging into the final.
The lefthander, who lost to Pakistan’s Aamir Atlas Khan in the 2013 final, was in inspired form as he fought back to beat Pakistan’s world No. 45 Nasir Iqbal 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 5-11, 11-6 in the last four. Mezayen will meet Hong Kong’s fourth seed Leo Au for the title.
